


Impersonation

by lunaterra (CelestialArcadia)



Category: Original Work
Genre: Fantasy, Gen, Pre-Femslash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-14
Updated: 2020-03-14
Packaged: 2021-03-01 00:00:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,752
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23135815
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CelestialArcadia/pseuds/lunaterra
Summary: A self-important fighters' guild member takes it upon herself to rescue the city from an elven layabout. The situation's not quite as simple as that, though...
Kudos: 1





	Impersonation

**Author's Note:**

> This is a short thing I wrote a few months ago prompted by the [random plot generator at writingexercises.co.uk](https://writingexercises.co.uk/plotgenerator.php). Specifically: "A woman in her late twenties, who is very charming. A woman in her late twenties, who is very stubborn. The story begins in a forest. Someone is being impersonated. It's a story about deception. Your character sets out on a rescue mission."
> 
> I tagged this as pre-F/F because while I have no plans to continue this, if on the off chance that I do (or I incorporate these OCs into another story), Stella and Arani are definitely going to get together. Eventually. I think it might take a little bit for Arani to come out of her shell.

"Stella! I challenge you to a duel!"

Arani straightened her posture, trying her best to seem intimidating—quite a task to accomplish, given her stature and possession of a face often described as "cherubic." The well-worn plate armor she wore and the meticulously-crafted longsword she wielded certainly helped to offset those, however. Letting out a shout, she took the sword out of its scabbard and wedged it tip-down in the ground in front of her.

Stella continued to read her book.

Unaware or uncaring of the commotion below her, she lay on a sturdy branch partway up a tree, leisurely turning pages as she relaxed.

"Stella! You can't ignore me this time!"

"I'm doing it right now. Can this wait? I just got to a juicy part. I think they're about to kiss!"

"No, it cannot wait! You have once again been causing a commotion and scaring innocent townspeople! You have tarnished the honor of this city!"

Stella turned a page, not even taking a glance at the woman below her. "You know as well as I do that there is little honor to be found in that town. Your desperate attempts to pretend otherwise are just embarrassing."

"If you beat me in a fair duel, then perhaps I shall consider entertaining your babble."

"Nah, I'm good over here. I normally find your outbursts entertaining, but they're starting to get old. You can't keep repeating the same gimmick over and over and expect it to stick every time."

"I'm being serious here!"

"So am I. I don't see why you do it, to be honest. You're not a knight or a guard or anyone who can even credibly pretend to have any type of authority, just an unremarkable fighters' guild recruit. Nobody is telling you to do this. You have nothing to gain from trying to punish me for making people's days more interesting. I doubt that going into a forest to harass some elf woman will make much of an impact on anyone you're trying to impress."

Arani let out a loud scream and scrambled to pick up a rock on the ground, throwing it at Stella. It didn't even come close to hitting her or even the rather large tree she was reclining on.

"I think you and I have more in common than you think," Stella said, dogearing her book and placing it in a satchel as she dropped down to the ground in front of Arani. "You just don't want to admit it."

"We have nothing in common!"

"Thus, you prove my point."

"I'm not proving anything! You're being ridiculous!"

"You're the one being ridiculous. We're both women, aren't we? That's something we have in common."

"Besides that!"

"We both have two arms, two legs, and two eyes. We are both adept fighters, albeit with different styles. We were both born in the same month, though in different years. I'm sure there are more similarities that we have yet to discover."

Arani roughly took her sword out of the ground where it had begun to lean precariously. "I don't have to listen to this nonsense! You have my word that I will hold you accountable for your actions!"

"Oh, no. I'm quivering in my boots. I don't think I can handle another stern lecture."

"I mean it!" Arani grunted as she turned away to begin the trek back to town.

"Wait, before you leave…"

Arani paused, but didn't turn to face Stella.

"I lied."

"Of course you did."

"You're not unremarkable. Quite the opposite, in fact. You're possibly the only remarkable person in that boring town."

Arani let out a haughty hmph before continuing on her way.

  


* * *

  


"The usual, ma'am?"

"The usual."

"If you don't mind me saying, ma'am, you seem a bit haggard today. More so than usual, even."

Arani chose to ignore the shopkeeper's implications. "It's been a rough day."

"I know that feeling—here's your sandwich, ma'am—why, just last week, I had this particular customer—"

"I'm sorry, Dar, but I'm really not in the mood. Thanks for the sandwich." Arani counted out a handful of coins and placed them on the counter before taking her food.

"Oh...well, I hope you feel better soon, ma'am."

"Thanks. I hope you have a nice evening."

"You too, ma'am." Dar waved enthusiastically as Arani left; Arani's returning wave was considerably less energetic.

As she left, Arani heard Dar shout, "Thanks for the tip! Much appreciated!"

She took a bite out of her sandwich as she walked home, trying to savor the ingredients: juicy meats, crispy lettuce, flavorful cheeses, condiments that gave the whole thing a delectable zest…

Arani would never disparage Dar's culinary creations; the sandwich was delicious as always. But she had trouble enjoying it in the same way she usually did. Her thoughts were elsewhere. How she would get money for rent, leadership conflicts in the fighters' guild, and most of all, that damnable annoying Stella.

She was so engrossed in her thoughts that she nearly walked straight into a wall, avoiding it by walking into the city guard putting up a poster on that wall instead. The guard turned around, brandishing a knife, while Arani fumbled to rescue her sandwich from falling on the ground.

"H-Hey! Watch where you're going!" The guard lowered their knife when they saw who had bumped into them. "Sorry, Arani. Thought you might be a pickpocket. Can't be too careful, you know."

"Who would try to pickpocket a guard?"

"Dunno, but I've seen weirder crimes out there. Not much out there would surprise me anymore."

"What are you doing?"

"New wanted poster. The pest we have finally went off the deep end." The guard smoothed out the paper, revealing a drawing of an all-too-familiar face. "Kidnapped the child of a local baron. In full view of the west market, too; we've got more than thirty witnesses to the crime. How she thought she'd get away with it, I have no idea."

The guard barely had a chance to finish before Arani sped off in the direction of the forest, abandoning her half-eaten sandwich in a stray puddle.

"Stella! I knew you were evil!"

  


* * *

  


Finished with her bedtime routine, Stella went to climb into her tent for what she hoped would be a restful night. Alas, she would get an unwanted visitor.

"Unhand the child immediately!"

Stella stopped as she was getting into her tent. "Go away, you already bothered me today."

"Fiend! You don't deserve peace until you atone for your wrongs!"

"Ugh...you're not going to leave me alone, are you?" Stella reluctantly stood up, facing the still-fully-armored Arani in her pajamas.

"Of course not. Literal dozens of people witnessed you abducting an innocent child! How could I simply ignore that?"

Stella looked at Arani with a groggily confused expression.

"I'm not sure which part of your accusation offends me more: that you think I'd stoop so low as to kidnap a child, or that you think I'd be stupid enough to do it in a crowd." Stella yawned, not even bothering to hide her disdain for the situation she was in. "My 'crimes' are running around, jumping on buildings, and vandalizing mansions. Do you honestly think I have the makings of a kidnapper?"

"Of course!"

"Really?"

"Y-Yes!"

"Really?"

Arani looked away, her face reddening. "It is a bit strange, I suppose…"

"Where did you hear about this kidnapping I supposedly committed?"

"From a guard who was putting up a wanted poster."

"Take me to the poster. I want to see it with my own eyes."

"How do you plan on evading the guards? They'll be on high alert looking for you."

"That's simple." A light suddenly enveloped Stella; when it dissipated, she appeared to have been replaced by a totally different person. Her red ponytail was replaced by a short black hairstyle; she was a full head shorter; her scars were replaced with a light dusting of freckles; and…

"Were the breasts necessary?"

"I have to make myself as unrecognizable as possible."

"I didn't realize you were a shapeshifter," Arani said, looking Stella up and down. "I thought that was something only archmages could do. You don't seem that adept at magic."

"There are a lot of things you assume about me that are untrue." Stella gave Arani a mischievous smirk which Arani turned away from. "But in this case, you are correct. This is a glamour, not full shapeshifting. If someone were to reach above my 'head', they would likely poke my eyes out. Now, will you escort me to town?"

"I suppose…"

  


* * *

  


"Here it is."

Stella examined every inch of the poster. "It does look quite a bit like me…"

"And how do you explain that?"

"But take a look at this scar." Stella traced a scar going from her image's hairline to her cheek, dividing her right eyebrow in two. "It's on the wrong side of my face."

Arani leaned in, taking a closer look at the poster. "So it is."

"You didn't actually examine this very well, did you? Even you would recognize that this isn't me."

"Perhaps, in this particular case, I let my emotions get ahead of me…"

"You do that all the time."

"It does look rather like you, though. Do you have an identical twin running about?"

"No, but…"

"But?"

"Do you know how shapeshifting works?"

"You cast a spell to look like something or someone else."

"There's a particular quirk with shapeshifting that you don't get with glamours. If you try to shapeshift into a particular person, one detail will always be off—the hair will be a pinky's width longer, the eyes will be a slightly wrong shade of brown...or a scar will be on the wrong side of the face. Glamours, meanwhile, can imitate a person's appearance exactly."

"Why would someone choose to shapeshift into a person as opposed to using a glamour, then?"

"That's what I want to know. It's hard to imagine that someone would be powerful enough to shapeshift into a person but unable to cast a simple glamour spell."

"So I guess it isn't you...but what do you plan on doing about this? Just ignore it and return to your hermit life in the woods?"

"Of course not. We're going to rescue that child and clear my good name. And I'm not a hermit!"

"We?"

"You forced me into this situation. I'm not letting you remove yourself from it. Now, tell me everything you know. This might take a while."


End file.
